As I look back to the days when my grandsons were young aspiring outdoors enthusiasts, I think of the many times that we made fall trips to the cabin.
My son, Brian would take 2 weeks in a row around MEA weekend. He and I would head to the cabin the week before and my daughter-in-law would get the boys out of school a day early and bring them up.
I always looked forward to spending time with Brian, it was a great time to bond and do a little fishing. We mainly fished for northern on a little lake that was loaded with them. It seemed like the best time to catch them was in late September or early October. One time I took my wife, Jean, to that lake to fish for some northern. It was mid-summer and Dylan, our grandson, had given his grandma a red and white Daredeville to use, because he knew that it was her favorite when fishing for northern. After about two hours of fishing, we took the boat out and left. Dylan had given her the right lure because she had caught 4 northern, to my one. She seems to find a way to out fish me and I couldn’t be happier when it happens.
When I was at the cabin with Brian and the boys, we always had an adventure. We did some fishing, and it was plenty cold, temperature-wise. The boys all loved to hunt so they would get up early and head out across the lake, while I stayed in the cabin to make sure we had a nice warm fire going. I would prepare breakfast and wait to hear the motor on the duck boat before putting breakfast on the stove. The coffee was made, and the table was set, all that I needed was someone to eat the grub.
When they came into the cabin they sat down to a breakfast of bacon, eggs, fried potatoes and toast. Trevor would eat his breakfast and head down to the lake where he had a blind set up along the shoreline on our side of the lake. He would sit there waiting for some ducks to visit the decoys that he had put out.
After breakfast, Taylor would ask if he could start the campfire which we kept going for most of the day. A campfire feels pretty good anytime, especially when the temperature is in the high 30’s.
They hunted for grouse mostly on our property, which consists of almost six acres of woods. Over the years I have heard and seen many grouse around the cabin and the boys have each bagged at least one. Whether it is ducks, geese, pheasant or grouse, the meat is always eaten. I am not a big fan of goose meat, but I will eat it on a special occasion. Trevor will take some goose breasts to a locker plant, and have it made into meat sticks, I have to say that they are delicious.
This past Saturday I woke up to the sound of gunshots coming from the direction of Albert Lea Lake, I assumed that it was someone who was hunting waterfowl on the lake. At the time I wondered if my oldest grandson Trevor might be hunting this morning as well. A couple of hours later I received a snapchat from Trevor and it was a video of him catching and releasing a walleye. I asked him where he was fishing, and he said the Mississippi River. The kid never ceases to amaze me.
Until next time: It is important to introduce our youth to the outdoors by introducing them to hunting and fishing. The youth of today are the sportsmen and women of tomorrow. They are the ones who will make sure our outdoors heritage is in good hands.
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